The Metropolitan Police was “protecting terrorist sympathisers” when officers stopped campaigners displaying images of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas, a group has claimed.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) accompanied vans with electric screens showing the images in central London on Wednesday.
They came across Palestinian protesters in Parliament Square who “threatened and intimidated them”, the group claimed.
Police told the CAA to turn the images off and leave the area before “physically restraining” its chief executive Gideon Falter, the campaign group said.
The Met Police said its “priority was the safety of everyone involved”, while the CAA said it was considering “all legal options” related to the force.
A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, and recorded by Mr Falter showed the large electronic billboard with a picture of Amelia and Ariel, who it claimed were “kidnapped by Hamas”.
When challenged by Mr Falter, a female police officer can be heard saying: “What we don’t want to do is people coming this way and doing any damage to their vans.”
Speaking after the incident, Mr Falter said: “This was the most disturbing incident that I have experienced in nearly a decade at CAA. Our volunteers were left shaken by the protesters who were harassing and intimidating them, and the police did nothing.
“Instead, the officers told our drivers to turn off their billboards and stop showing the faces of children kidnapped by a proscribed terrorist organisation, apparently because their sympathisers on British streets might attack us for showing them.
“Then when I attended the scene the police did the same thing, going so far as to restrain me, supposedly for my ‘own safety’. “We never imagined that it would be the police who would stop us from showing the faces of children kidnapped by a terrorist group banned by the UK Government. “Who are the police protecting here? Those standing up to terrorists, or those who sympathise with them?”
In a response on X, a spokesperson for the Met Police said they “understand” why the video caused concern.
They said the officers were in the area because of a vigil held by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
The force had reviewed officers’ body-worn footage to establish the “full sequence of events” and would get in touch with the CAA to discuss the matter, the spokesperson said.
They said: “This exchange happened at the same time as the vigil came to an end and the priority of officers was the safety of everyone involved and those nearby.”
